It was
a quiet Friday morning, January 25, 2013, and Mike Williams' thoughtful
telephone call could not have surprised me more. His beautiful wife and
my dear friend, Carole
Jean Williams had died. Though she had been fighting cancer since
before the holidays, it happened very suddenly.

No one
in the world of journalism or category of "friend" had more
impact on my life than C.J. Williams. She and I had some of the most beautiful
arguments when she helped me edit my NewsWithViews
columns… and then we'd argue about what the headline ought to
be. C.J. like longer sentences; I liked shorter ones – but we both
loved and respected the truth and that served as the basis of our friendship.

I don't
call a lot of people "friend" because to me that word means
I respect you, your views and willingness to stand up and fight for them
(whether I agree with you, or not), your stance with truth and willingness
to put your name on the line for your beliefs… to me, a lot of obligations
go with the word "friend." C.J. lived up to all of my self-imposed
definitions of the word. She had the same self-imposed definitions.

Carole
Jean (C.J.) Williams, age 67 of Pelkie, MI passed away on Friday,
January 25, 2013 after a short illness at Marquette General Hospital in
Michigan.

Carole
– C.J., to me – was born May 10, 1945 in Cass City, MI, daughter
to Harold and Wanda (Karr) Huffman. She graduated from North Branch High
School in 1963 then attended Central Michigan University. She married
Arthur Vasold in 1966 and taught school in North Branch and Perkins, MI.
Carole raised her children and later married Mike Williams on September
13, 1991 and they resided in Laurium until 1994 when they moved to Prickett
Dam (Pelkie), MI.

She
so loved her Upper Peninsula of Michigan… "They call us 'Yoopers,'"
she told me in the early days when we were getting to know one another.
That was a very special category of people in C.J.'s book – Yoopers
are the best, hardiest, most common sense people in the world.

It was
in an email from C.J. that I found the email address for Ambassador Lee
Emil Wanta. She sent me a message about banking and as I scrolled down
to the bottom of the email, there was the Ambassador's email address.
Since I had without ever having heard of Wanta duplicated his life in
my book When the Swan's Neck Breaks and someone who read the book sent
me an article about him, I was shocked to find the fictional character
I created was a real human being. I called C.J. immediately and asked
where she had gotten Ambassador Wanta's email address. "I have no
idea," she told me. "I've never heard of him. It must have been
on an email someone sent me and I didn't get it deleted before I forwarded
it on to you." She spent the next two or three months helping me
research Leo/Lee Wanta… and no one could research anything better
than Carole Jean Williams. She was the best!

C.J.
wrote, spoke at events and rallies and on radio shows. Her hard raspy
voice was strong and provided her with a distinguishing characteristic.
When C.J. talked, you never doubted where she stood. How many times she
said "I will go to my grave fighting! I won't give these bastards
an inch!" And she never did. When C.J. spoke at events, she kicked
ass and took names. Her views did not soften because she had an audience.
Rather, she felt the need inside her soul to do what she could to make
sure people realized that America was being run by a criminal cabal. She
actively engaged in getting others actively engaged.

As J.C.
Powers. Editor of the National Defender, said in his Memorial about her,
"She was a vicious watchdog and her stature was reminiscent of the
Marine Corps bulldog. C.J. was not only capable of a painful bite, but
when she latched-on there was no letting go."

Powers
also pointed out that C.J. "had no respect for individuals who were
far more interested in padding their own self-esteem, wallets, or resumes
than doing what's right. She especially exhibited a loathing for politicians
who were willing to bend over to receive the dictates of fictitious movements
like global warming, help promote other global agendas, and put forth
their own impositions upon citizens of the nation which she devoutly loved
and diligently served."

I wasn't
part of C.J.'s sportsmen's organizations but we both appreciated the great
outdoors. She amused me every spring with the volume of flowers and bulbs
she planted so she and her husband Mike and the rest of her family and
friends could enjoy the resultant beauty. In that activity, we shared
a love of nature. She battled the Gang Green with an energy that could
only be defined as "Wow!" I invited her to be interviewed on
Thursday Nights With Marilyn on Blog Talk Radio because no one knew more
about Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development issues than C.J. and she could
explain them and state her positions on them so succinctly and reasonably.

In addition
to writing for NewsWithViews.com,
C.J. Williams also wrote for womenhunters.com, the Yooper Spectator, Michigan's
News and Views, and the Yooper Spectator and for Yooper Scooper's National
Defender. She was active in the Calumet Ladies Elks and the Michigan Republican
Party. She belonged to sportsmen's organizations and fought with a vengeance
for the Second Amendment rights of the people to bear arms. She was involved
with men's and women's gun groups and loved hunting season each year.

C.J.
considered herself a Conspiracy Theory Junky in one posting on Michigan's
News and Views. "But those who knew her, knew she wasn't a paranoid
consumer of tin-hat theories. She never entered the fray until all aspects
were verified," said J.C. Powers. She exposed political corruption
in her local area and sometimes faced substantial danger because of it.

Carole
Williams once wrote: "Worse, I've no remorse over the fact that my
fingers have typed the truth of many conspiracies during the past several
years, verifying that my theories and some others' theories, which I shared
with readers of my newspaper column, have proved to be reality, not merely
theory.

"Conspiracy
theorists have been around for quite some time. It's only of late - with
the phenomenal growth of the TEA Party movement - that the label has received
such thundering derision, particularly from the gaggle of far left-leaning,
Mao-hugging 'Progressives', who appear to have taken over the Democratic
Party at all levels."

A memorial
service will be held on Tuesday, January 29th at 12:00 p.m. at the Jacobson
Funeral Home, 200 L'Anse Avenue, L'Anse, MI 49946 (906)524-7800 info@jacobsonfuneralhome.com.
The family will receive friends for one hour prior to the service. Rev.
Judy Mattson will officiate. A luncheon and fellowship will follow the
service in the Sharing Room at the Jacobson Funeral Home.

C.J.
sent me a beautiful set of wind chimes for Christmas. With them came a
note telling me that when the wind blew she hoped it would remind me of
her and the wonderful conversations we've had over the years. "So
you will hear my voice when the wind blows…" she said.

As J.C.
Powers said in his Memorial to C.J., "I'm sure we'll hear her in
the murmur of a brook and within the sounds of a cascading waterfall.
She's an icon of love, loyalty, patriotism, truth, and passion with a
hint of ferociousness.

"Every
now-and-again, as you walk through the woods and enjoy the aroma of the
outdoors as the wind whiffs through the leaves or gently over the glistening
white snow, think of CJ and mention her name out loud for God to hear.

"God
had truly blessed us with knowing Thee—Rest in Peace good friend
and colleague. Please continue to help us find truth in its purest form;
Until then..."

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I was
one of those blessed with knowing Carole Jean Williams. I will miss her.
Millions of Americans who have never heard her name will miss her because
she spent a big part of her life fighting those who would harm them…
and she often won those battles no one thought possible to win.

This
is a woman to be remembered. My tears over losing you will soon stop,
C.J. But my joy at having known you and my respect for you as a woman,
a wife, a mother, a journalist and as a Patriot will only grow as I think
back over the many discussions we've had about truth and how to find it.
Your soul now rests with your Lord and God and may the many blessings
you have earned be heaped upon you with the great honor they deserve.

Marilyn
MacGruder Barnewall began her career in 1956 as a journalist with the
Wyoming Eagle in Cheyenne. During her 20 years (plus) as a banker and
bank consultant, she wrote extensively for The American Banker, Bank Marketing
Magazine, Trust Marketing Magazine, was U.S. Consulting Editor for Private
Banker International (London/Dublin), and other major banking industry
publications. She has written seven non-fiction books about banking and
taught private banking at Colorado University for the American Bankers
Association. She has authored seven banking books, one dog book, and two
works of fiction (about banking, of course). She has served on numerous
Boards in her community.

Barnewall
is the former editor of The National Peace Officer Magazine and as a journalist
has written guest editorials for the Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News
and Newsweek, among others. On the Internet, she has written for News
With Views, World Net Daily, Canada Free Press, Christian Business Daily,
Business Reform, and others. She has been quoted in Time, Forbes, Wall
Street Journal and other national and international publications. She
can be found in Who's Who in America, Who's Who of American Women, Who's
Who in Finance and Business, and Who's Who in the World.

It was a quiet Friday
morning, January 25, 2013, and Mike Williams' thoughtful telephone call
could not have surprised me more. His beautiful wife and my dear friend,
Carole Jean Williams had died. Though she had been fighting cancer since
before the holidays, it happened very suddenly.